Dear Families,

I am writing to share important updates about our preparation for any impacts from the coronavirus (COVID-19). While this subject certainly is top of mind for a lot of us, I want you to know that our students and teachers remain focused on teaching and learning happily, and on the many special events taking place on campus: the 9th grade play and the Book Swap, which both run through Friday; tomorrow's maple sap boil, which is a very special Foote tradition; and preparation for the Spring Assembly on March 13.

What precautions is Foote taking?

We continue to monitor information from the CDC, the WHO, the Connecticut Department of Health and our independent school partners on a daily basis, and we are consulting with health professionals about prevention and preparedness efforts. We are reminding students about the importance of hand-washing and discouraging the shaking of hands. We have distributed Clorox wipes to all teachers and we are regularly sanitizing all campus door knobs, railings, work surfaces, telephones, computers and other frequently touched surfaces. A deep cleaning of all campus facilities will be done during March Vacation.

Talking to children about coronavirus

As you might expect, students have asked questions and expressed some concern about the situation. While we are not initiating conversations about the outbreak, we are responding to questions as they arise with age-appropriate information, emphasizing the proactive steps children can take (such as thorough hand-washing) to support the health of our community. We understand families may prefer to address this topic with children at home and we wanted to pass along a few resources that may help facilitate these conversations: an article from the Child Mind Institute about "Talking to Kids about the Coronavirus"; an NPR "Comic for Exploring the New Coronavirus"; and a New York Times article about "Talking to Teens and Tweens About Coronavirus."

What can parents do?

One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to keep your child home if he/she/they are sick. Please refer to page 45 of our Parent Handbook for more information about Foote's health policy and when a student should be kept home. We also request that parents tell us if their children will be traveling outside the U.S. during March Vacation by filling out this International Travel Form. Please refer to the email from Feb. 27 about recommendations and policy regarding travel to countries impacted by COVID-19.

In addition to these measures, you can help by preventing the spread of misinformation and bias based on fears about the outbreak. We encourage you to have conversations with your children about the importance of being inclusive and not making assumptions about someone's perceived ethnicity or country of origin.

What if school has to close?

We are currently developing a plan for distance learning should we need to close school for an extended period. For Grades K-3, families would access faculty blogs for instruction and resources. For Grades 4-9, students would use Google Classroom to continue both independent and classroom studies. In order for these systems to work properly your family will need:

Standard household internet access—minimum bandwidth of 3.2 Mbps outbound and 1.8 Mbps inbound
One dedicated device per student such as a Chromebook, tablet, desktop or laptop
A device with a webcam, speaker and microphone

To assist us in making plans for distance learning, we'd like to know if you have these resources available. Please let us know if you do NOT have access to these resources (email Director of Technology Pam Fortin at pfortin@footeschool.org).

What about field trips?

We are monitoring the situation with regard to a number of student trips planned for the coming weeks. We will be evaluating each trip on a case-by-case basis in consultation with health professionals and sharing information with families as soon as possible.

This situation continues to evolve and we will provide further updates as we are able. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me or the Student Health Office. Thank you for your partnership in keeping our community safe.

Sincerely,

Carol Maoz

Head of School